Praying for the Prodigal

本站添加: 2026-05-19

[00:00:00]There is a God in heaven. There is a real heaven and hell and there is forgiveness in Jesus Christ. Yes. Amen.

[00:00:12]Amen.

[00:00:12]I want to take you tonight to my favorite Bible story. If you're allowed to say that, they're all my favorite, right?

[00:00:19]But my favorite story that Jesus told is found in the Gospel according to Luke in Luke chapter number 15. And when you get there, you probably, if you don't know the scripture, you probably at least are familiar with the story because it is commonly referred to as the parable of the prodigal son. How many of you ever heard that before?

[00:00:37]I don't really know how it got that name. Full disclosure, I've been studying the Bible for years. I don't have any idea who started that.

[00:00:45]Prodigal does not mean what you think it means.

[00:00:48]Most people say prodigal mean they're wayward, they're away. Did you know you can be prodigal and be in a church?

[00:00:55]You're here on a Wednesday night in a gospel meeting. You could be prodigal sitting in this room. The word prodigal means recklessly extravagant. It is It is not a description of his geographical location. It is a description of his spiritual condition.

[00:01:11]And in Luke chapter 15, Jesus is surrounded by a bunch of sinners.

[00:01:16]By the way, we're all a bunch of sinners. You're listening to a sinner tonight. Would you look up here? You just listening to a dressed-up sinner.

[00:01:21]That's all you're listening to.

[00:01:23]But a sinner that's met Jesus.

[00:01:25]And I'm looking at a whole bunch of sinners. Everybody look around. The preacher said you could. Look around just a minute. Would you look around?

[00:01:30]You're looking at a bunch of sinners.

[00:01:32]How many of you see a sinner nearby?

[00:01:33]Would you raise your hand, please? Yeah.

[00:01:35]And by the way, if you think you're off the hook, you're a sinner, too.

[00:01:40]Matter of fact, look at verse 1 and verse 2 before we jump to the story. The Bible says, "Then drew near to him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured saying, 'This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them.'" I want to pause and say, "Yes, thank God Jesus does receive sinners.

[00:01:59]And he doesn't just receive you. I love this. He actually pulls up to the table.

[00:02:03]He doesn't just give you relationship, he gives you fellowship.

[00:02:06]And it's interesting, but if you look at verse one and verse two that describes all the sinners in the room and all the sinners in the world. In verse one, you got all the worldly sinners, that's the publicans, the cheats and tax collectors and harlots and all the rest are wrapped up in the publicans and sinners. And in verse two, you got the religious sinners, the Pharisees and scribes. You know the big difference between verse one and verse two? The people in verse one knew they were sinners and the people in verse two didn't admit it.

[00:02:32]So, you can dress up all you want to.

[00:02:34]You can work real hard, be a good moral person, and you can come from a good family, but you're all still just certified sinners. And Jesus speaking to that crowd gives three stories. The story of a lost sheep, the story of a lost coin, and the story of a lost boy.

[00:02:50]It's fascinating.

[00:02:51]I believe the key word of the whole chapter is lost. Some form of it is found seven times. Seven times Jesus says, "It was lost. They lost it. They lost it." And this is really interesting, but in the story of the lost coin and the story of the lost sheep, Jesus is pictured as seeking them, going after them. But in the story we're about to look at, Jesus is viewed as waiting on the sinner. May I just say, "Nobody seeks after God. God always seeks sinners first." Long time before you were ever thinking about God, God has his eye on you.

[00:03:24]But I want you to know, he will not force himself upon you.

[00:03:28]And so, the same one who is seeking is also waiting. What's he waiting for?

[00:03:32]He's waiting on us.

[00:03:34]Some people have this crazy notion that someday they're going to be in a meeting, hear the perfect sermon, and get a lightning bolt from heaven, and God's going to kick the door of their heart open and barge in and take over.

[00:03:43]That is not the way God works.

[00:03:46]He says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in him and will sup with him and him with me.

[00:03:54]That's just an old English word sup for supper. How many of you like supper?

[00:03:56]Would you raise your hand, please?

[00:03:58]Do you all say supper or dinner up here?

[00:04:00]How many of you say supper?

[00:04:01]How many of you say dinner?

[00:04:03]How many of you don't care as long as it's food? Yes?

[00:04:06]Uh say dinner if you want to, but sup's in the Bible. I'm just saying, all right? So, Jesus said, he said, "I'll have sup with you and you'll have sup with me." Sounds a lot like Jesus sitting at a table with sinners.

[00:04:16]And I love this thought. In the story of the lost son, Jesus is really reveals the heart of God.

[00:04:23]We're about to read it, but before we read it, I want to tell you something I want you to watch for, cuz lots of people get wrapped up in the story and miss the point.

[00:04:32]When Jesus told parables, they had one point, not many points, one point.

[00:04:37]And some people read this story and they have pity on the boy who's sitting in the hog pen and they say, "Bless his heart. He had a hard time." Or they look at dad and they say, "What a good dad."

[00:04:46]But I want I don't want you to see the sinful son and the heartbroken father night. I want you to see the son who's telling the story.

[00:04:56]Because Jesus is the one, the son of God, who has come to make sinners whole.

[00:05:04]And whose heart is he revealing? The heart of his own father.

[00:05:09]Who loves sinners like me.

[00:05:13]And like you.

[00:05:15]And so we come to our story in Luke chapter 15 and verse number 11, and he said, "A certain man had two sons.

[00:05:24]And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me.

[00:05:31]And he divided unto them his living.

[00:05:36]And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together and took his journey into a far country and there wasted his substance with riotous living.

[00:05:46]And when he'd spent all, that arose a mighty famine in that land and he began to be in want.

[00:05:52]And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.

[00:05:59]And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat and no man gave unto him.

[00:06:09]And when he came to himself he said, "How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare and I perish with hunger.

[00:06:21]I will arise and go to my father and will say unto him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee and am no more worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants.'"

[00:06:37]And he arose and came to his father, but when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.

[00:06:46]And the son said unto him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight and am no more worthy to be called thy son." But the father said to his servants, "Bring forth the best robe and put it on him.

[00:07:00]And put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet and bring hither the fatted calf and kill it and let us eat and be merry for this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found."

[00:07:15]And they began to be merry.

[00:07:19]This is the story of the lost.

[00:07:22]Did you know everything not given to God is lost?

[00:07:27]Everything.

[00:07:31]I have on my heart tonight a number of people who I do not know.

[00:07:36]Some no doubt are in this room and some of them are in other places far away from here.

[00:07:41]They are people that we have been praying for. We've been praying for the prodigals.

[00:07:49]We've been praying that somehow God would touch the hearts of men and women and young people who are not right with God.

[00:07:57]They're away from God and they're separated because of their sin. That's what sin always does.

[00:08:02]And bring them to God.

[00:08:05]And I know it's possible.

[00:08:08]A week ago I was preaching in Chesapeake, Virginia.

[00:08:12]We had a wonderful morning and had a number of people come to the Lord and and Tammy was with me and we were standing in the back of the of the church.

[00:08:20]And I was at our table and people were coming by speaking and getting resources and I I noticed this man. He waited around for a moment. Great big burly guy and tough guy. Found out he was a long haul truck driver and a man's man and he waited until there was nobody much at the table and then he stepped up and he looked at a few of the brochures and he asked me a question or two and we chatted and I I said to him, "Do you Do you come here to church all the time?"

[00:08:46]And he put his head down and looked at the ground and and Dan said to me, "Well, my father My father comes here to church, but I've been here before, but I'm not here much."

[00:08:58]And I talked to him for a moment about the Lord and someone stepped up and he stepped away.

[00:09:03]And And a few minutes later, lots of people would come by. I looked over to my right and he's standing over there again.

[00:09:10]He's just standing near the table and he's he's looking at me and he's looking at the people and he waited until it cleared again and then he stepped back up to the table.

[00:09:20]And this time I said to him, "Dan, you got something on your mind."

[00:09:26]And he began to weep.

[00:09:29]And he said, "I do."

[00:09:32]He said, "I know I've been running from God.

[00:09:37]I'm tired of it.

[00:09:40]We stepped to the side, just the two of us, found a little corner and prayed.

[00:09:44]And I prayed for him, and then I said to him, "Would you like to pray?" He said, "Yes." And I wish I could transport you back to that moment. It was sweet.

[00:09:53]I just stood there and listened as that great big man, tears streaming down his face, said in simple, childlike words, "Jesus, I'm so sorry.

[00:10:05]I've messed my life up.

[00:10:08]I don't know how to tell you, Lord, but I need you."

[00:10:14]When he finished his prayer, I wish you could have seen the change in his countenance. And then I noticed I noticed there was another man standing there by watching us.

[00:10:22]An eagle eye on us.

[00:10:24]And I turned and I said, "Do you know who this is?" He said, "That's my father."

[00:10:32]And his dad said to me, "You've been praying for the prodigal?"

[00:10:41]Some of you have got somebody on your heart tonight. Some of you are the person.

[00:10:47]I don't know who you are. I don't know how you got in here.

[00:10:51]But I want to tell you tonight that there is a loving God who is pursuing you at this moment. And you know what he's waiting on? While you're waiting on him to do something else. What more do you want him to do? He sent his son to die in your place.

[00:11:01]While you're waiting on God, God is waiting on you.

[00:11:07]So, how do we pray for the prodigal?

[00:11:10]I'll give you four simple thoughts. They all come from the story. You might want to write them down cuz it might help you know how to pray for your prodigal.

[00:11:16]Number one, you want to pray for the prodigal first of all, we should pray that they will see the awful nature of their sin.

[00:11:24]You don't know why people don't come to God. I'm just going to be blunt with you. You don't know why people don't get right with God. You know why they persist in their sin? Cuz they do not see sin from God's perspective, they see it from their perspective.

[00:11:36]And as long as all you see is the momentary pleasure of sin, look here, until you hate it, you'll never be free of it, and you won't hate it until you see it like God sees it.

[00:11:48]Let me tell you what sin is. Sin is an affront to the holiness of God, but it is much worse than that. Sin is rebellion against the loving heart of God. Why do you think Jesus chose a father-son relationship to reveal the awful nature of sin? Do you know the worst sin in the world? The worst sin in the world is the sin against love.

[00:12:10]To sin against somebody that loves you.

[00:12:13]And I'm telling you, of all the sins against love, the greatest sin is the sin against divine love, cuz nobody ever loved you like Jesus loved you.

[00:12:25]The awful nature of sin is it is a rebellion against love. It's not only that. Look at the Look at the story in verse number 12. It's selfishness. At its core, sin is selfishness.

[00:12:36]Give me.

[00:12:39]We live in a world of takers. How many of you would agree with that?

[00:12:44]What's in it for me?

[00:12:45]You know what's really bad? People even look at God that way.

[00:12:49]I got good news for you. He's a giver.

[00:12:54]But he's not going to give you first what you want. He's going to give you first what you need. The first thing you need is you need the Lord. You don't need his blessings, you need the blesser.

[00:13:04]And some people look at Excuse me, for a slot machine religion, where they can find Mr. Fix-it who can help them out of their emergencies. And that's what this boy had. You know, I just want your stuff. Look here, do you want things from God, or do you want God?

[00:13:21]Some of you believe Some of you believe that God is some ogre in heaven, a million miles away just waiting to make your life perfectly miserable. I'm going to tell you something, you better read the Bible.

[00:13:33]That is not the God of the Bible.

[00:13:36]You really think that God who loved you so much he sacrificed his own son in your place is trying to take something from you? Look, the devil is the taker, sin is the drainer, Jesus is the giver.

[00:13:48]That's who he is.

[00:13:51]Sin at its core is selfishness. I'll tell you what else it is, it's a waste.

[00:13:56]You don't know the awful nature of sin, look at the next verse. The Bible says he gathered it all together. By the way, most people who act like they have it all together usually come apart at the seams.

[00:14:05]And he gathers it all together, takes his journey to our country, and mark this word, he wasted his substance.

[00:14:11]Verse 14 says he spent it all.

[00:14:14]Every day you live is like a dollar spent. You will spend it, and when you spend it, you will either waste it here or invest it for there, but you will never get this day again. Hear me with your heart, you will never have this moment again. You may not have tomorrow, but you definitely will never have today again. And today is the day of salvation, and now is the accepted time.

[00:14:34]And do you know how you waste your life?

[00:14:36]One day at a time.

[00:14:40]That's sin.

[00:14:43]You don't You understand what an insult sin is to God?

[00:14:48]Forget what it does to your family for a minute. You ever think about what an insult it is to God?

[00:14:52]In the In the In the ancient day, the younger son would get a portion of the inheritance. So, that was true.

[00:14:58]You know when he got it? Only when his father died.

[00:15:02]Which means that when the boy came and asked for his inheritance and his dad is alive, he literally is saying to him, "Look here, old man, I'd rather have your stuff than you."

[00:15:13]Let me ask you a question. You just trying to get all the good things you can get so life is a little bit better, or do you want God?

[00:15:21]Listen to me, Jesus Jesus isn't a band-aid on your problem to make you a little more comfortable and make this world a better place from which to go to hell. Jesus wants to deal with the sin problem in us.

[00:15:34]So number one, we must pray that the prodigal will see the awful nature of sin. Number two, we must pray that the prodigal will realize the terrible effects of sin.

[00:15:44]We never get better on our own.

[00:15:47]You can't fix your own life. It's not the way it works.

[00:15:51]So go ahead, try real hard, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, make it happen, get it done.

[00:15:55]You'll be a better person. No.

[00:15:57]No, because sin never gets better on its own. Look at the downward spiral. Look at verse 14. The Bible says when he had spent all a famine came and he began to be in want. Do you understand sin never satisfies?

[00:16:10]It's vanity. It's emptiness. There is a God-shaped hole in every heart in this room that only Jesus can fill and you can force every other block into that hole you want to, but nothing satisfies like Jesus satisfies.

[00:16:25]And then look at verse number 15.

[00:16:27]He goes looking for help. Surely he'll get some help and a guy gave him a job.

[00:16:32]Look at verse number 16, would fain have filled his belly with the husk that the swine did eat. Sin gives you less and less, not more and more. The pleasure of sin lasts only for a season and the seasons get shorter all the time.

[00:16:47]Would you mark this phrase in verse 16, no man gave unto him.

[00:16:52]Let me tell you about your sin. Nobody can fix it but Jesus.

[00:16:58]I'd like you to lift your head and look at me just a moment.

[00:17:00]This preacher cannot help you. I'm sorry.

[00:17:04]These pastors that are here, they're great men, they're faithful, godly men.

[00:17:07]They're Bible preachers, but we cannot fix your problems. There is not a church on earth that can fix what's wrong with any one of us. Only our loving God can do that.

[00:17:19]Pray that the prodigal will will see that the terrible nature of their sin.

[00:17:24]Pray the prodigal will realize the devastating effects of their sin.

[00:17:29]And then number three, write this one down. Pray that the prodigal will come to themselves and come to the Father.

[00:17:36]There's two parts here, do you see it?

[00:17:37]In verse 17, he came to himself.

[00:17:42]You ever have the aha moment in life?

[00:17:43]Like the lightbulb comes on and you say, "Wait a minute. I think I'm missing something here."

[00:17:50]Can I tell you something I've discovered dealing with people through the years and frankly dealing with my own sinful heart?

[00:17:56]You know what the worst part of sin is?

[00:17:59]The worst.

[00:18:01]See, I I I used to think the worst part of sin is, you know, God gets you. You know, the the the the chastening falls, the judgment comes. It's what happens to you.

[00:18:11]That's not true.

[00:18:14]The worst part of sin is not what you get, it's what you miss.

[00:18:23]You all know what makes hell hell?

[00:18:27]Somebody said darkness and fire and falling. All that's there. Let me go tell you what makes hell hell.

[00:18:32]No God.

[00:18:35]You all know what makes heaven heaven?

[00:18:38]God himself shall be with them.

[00:18:43]You all know why sin's eating at you, sir? Ma'am? You all know why you can't sleep at night, young person? You all know why you're anxious and troubled all the time trying to figure out something to to steady your nerves cuz you're just worked up all the time? I'm going to tell you. Cuz Jesus doesn't have his rightful place in your life. And when you let the Lord have his rightful place in your life, it won't make you perfect and it won't make your life perfect, but it will give you a perfect savior who will help you with every need in your life.

[00:19:10]Don't miss Jesus.

[00:19:15]And this boy says, "How many hired servants in my father's have bread enough and to spare?" He said, "I know there's food at daddy's house."

[00:19:21]My dad and mom are here tonight. They joined us tonight. I'm so glad. Let me just tell you, nobody spreads a table like mama spreads a table. Can I get an amen right there? Yes?

[00:19:29]But may I say to you, nobody spreads a table like Jesus spreads a table. So, why are you Why are you eating the husks the swine did eat, please? Why are you starving spiritually? Why Why are you living on leftovers when God has bread enough and to spare? Come to yourself, and then come to the Father.

[00:19:50]By the way, when you come to him, blessed be God, he'll come to you.

[00:19:55]I love the fact the boy never got to the house.

[00:19:59]Did you know old men in that day didn't run?

[00:20:02]That's true. They didn't run. Somebody said, "Old men today don't run." Well, some of them do.

[00:20:06]But in that day, it was a dishonor for them to run. They They wore these long flowing robes and garments. And And And if they ever had to move quickly, they would hike them up and they would tuck them in their belt. And that's exactly what daddy does. And he takes off a running at that boy.

[00:20:19]Can you see him in your mind's eye?

[00:20:21]Suddenly, he gets to him and throws his arms around him, and he kisses him. And the verb there That means he goes The verb there means he goes literally he kissed him all over.

[00:20:34]You know why he threw his arms around him? Cuz in that day, if a boy left home, Jewish family, left home and dishonored his daddy, if that boy ever dared show his face in that community again, the neighbors would all come out and stone him. Daddy said, "No, that's not what I want. I don't want him living under that guilt and shame." What does daddy do? He runs to him, throws his arms around him, and says, "Don't you touch him. This one belongs to me."

[00:20:58]You say, "I wish I had that." Well, come to yourself, then.

[00:21:02]It's a miserable insanity to sin. Sin gets This is not good English, probably, and excuse me, kids, stupider and stupider all the time.

[00:21:11]You know why that is? Cuz there's this miserable slide of sin, and suddenly you got to wake up somewhere and say, "Wait a minute, how'd I get here?"

[00:21:19]A better question is, how you going to get home? You ready for this? You don't have to get all the way back to the house. See, some of you right now sitting there reasoning in your mind, and you you got you got the Lord tugging on you, and you got the devil pulling on you, and you're weighing it all out, and you're saying, "Well, I got a lot of stuff to fix out. That preacher doesn't know me, and a man, it's going to take me a while to get all this fixed." No, no, you missed the point entirely. This boy didn't fix anything. He took one step back toward his father, and Daddy met him right where he was.

[00:21:47]Just as I am without one plea, and that thy blood was shed for me, and that thou bidst me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come. God's not waiting on you to clean yourself up. God is waiting on you to come just exactly like you are.

[00:22:02]And if you will come to yourself, and you will come to the Father.

[00:22:06]Acknowledge the truth and confess your sin. That's what he does. Look at the phrase, verse number 18. He said, "I'm going to say, Father, I have sinned."

[00:22:14]That's a pretty good place to start.

[00:22:17]Somebody said, "Well, I just don't know what to say." Maybe you're sitting here tonight and you say, "I I haven't prayed in so long, I don't even know how to pray." All right, I'm going to give you a prayer. I have sinned.

[00:22:27]And the Bible says if we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive our sin, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

[00:22:35]And here's where the story gets really good.

[00:22:38]As you write down number four, we should pray that the prodigal will experience the restoration and rejoicing of sins forgiven.

[00:22:48]So, he practiced this prayer all the way home.

[00:22:53]Sound like good prayer to me.

[00:22:55]Some of you trying to figure out what your prayer is going to be.

[00:22:59]Do you really think God answers your prayer and forgives your sin cuz you pray a nice prayer.

[00:23:04]Our prayers don't impress God.

[00:23:07]Boy came up to me a while back and he said the end of a meeting he said, "Preacher." He said, "I I got into such conviction of some things tonight in the meeting and he said when when you ask people to come pray he said, "I came to pray." And he said, "I got down on my knees to pray and had all these things I was going to tell God."

[00:23:24]And he said, "I just broke down and started weeping and he said, "I I don't think I got three words out."

[00:23:32]He said, "You think God understood that?"

[00:23:36]I said, "He didn't just understand it, he liked it."

[00:23:40]You want me to tell you who God comes near? The broken-hearted.

[00:23:45]You tired of running?

[00:23:47]Are you sick of yourself?

[00:23:50]Are you weary with this world?

[00:23:53]Come to him.

[00:23:56]Come to him.

[00:23:58]"Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight I'm no more worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants. Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight I'm no more worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants. Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight I'm no more worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants."

[00:24:17]But when he gets close to the house and daddy comes running out he launches into his prayer. Everybody look at verse 21.

[00:24:25]"Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight I'm no more worthy to be called thy son." But the father said Man, I love it when God butts in, don't you?

[00:24:35]Here's the divine interruption of grace.

[00:24:38]Did you ever notice daddy did not let him finish his prayer?

[00:24:42]The only part of his prayer he was not allowed to say was "Make me as one of thy hired servants."

[00:24:48]Would you like to know why?

[00:24:50]Cuz God didn't have any hired servants.

[00:24:55]You don't make a trade God.

[00:24:59]The only servants God has are bond servants who serve him because they love him.

[00:25:04]Not in order to get something, but because they've received something. And he's not a slave, he's not a boy, he's not a servant, he's a son.

[00:25:13]And at this moment the father, I think Daddy was out of breath.

[00:25:19]It's only time in the Bible you see God in a hurry.

[00:25:23]God's never in a hurry.

[00:25:26]But he is here.

[00:25:28]Oh, dear one.

[00:25:30]I wish I could rush to you.

[00:25:33]But he is.

[00:25:36]He's running towards the center.

[00:25:39]Our out OF BREATH SAVIOR STOPS YOU RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE of your speech to him and says, "That's enough."

[00:25:48]That's enough.

[00:25:51]I used to preach that verse, "If we confess our sins" the wrong way. I used to preach it like, you know, you come, tell God everything you've done, and how how sorry you are for all of it, and and go That's not what that word means. It means just say the same thing. The moment I love this, the moment you say the same thing about your sin God says about it. God says, "That's enough."

[00:26:15]It is you agreeing with God, not convincing him.

[00:26:20]And the moment you say "Father, I've sinned."

[00:26:24]Here's what he gives you, look at it, please.

[00:26:26]He gives you a robe to clothe your nakedness and your shame.

[00:26:31]He gives you shoes, only sons wore shoes. He He gives you a ring, that's access and authority, that's the signet of the father's house. This is so wonderful. He kills the fatted calf.

[00:26:41]Look, he's accepted and protected. He's clothed and he's cleansed. He has access and authority. He gets the resources and the rejoicing. When you get Jesus, you get it all. That's what you get.

[00:26:56]And I came to tell you tonight when you get to the end of the story, he's not the prodigal son. Stop calling him the prodigal son.

[00:27:03]He's just the son.

[00:27:06]And you know where he is?

[00:27:08]I had I look, I've studied the prodigal for years and love this passage. I had never noticed it till today.

[00:27:14]Where'd the whole story start? We start at the beginning, verse number one and verse number two. Jesus sitting at a table, ain't that right? With a bunch of sinners.

[00:27:22]When you get to the end of the prodigal story, where is he?

[00:27:26]He's sitting at the father's table.

[00:27:30]I want to tell you something, there's a table spread and God wants you at it.

[00:27:37]He wants you at it.

[00:27:39]He wants your loved ones at it.

[00:27:42]Do you want to be there?

[00:27:48]The far country is always farther than you think it is.

[00:27:52]The famine always comes.

[00:27:57]But the father is always looking.

[00:28:00]And the fatted calf is always better than the husks that the swine did eat.

[00:28:06]And the first step home is the greatest.

[00:28:15]So, my prodigal's here tonight.

[00:28:19]I say mine because he's my cousin, he's my friend.

[00:28:26]And he is one that I prayed for.

[00:28:33]When I went into evangelism 10 years ago left the work in the church and college here in Knoxville.

[00:28:39]We moved back to wild, wonderful West Virginia. Isn't that a great place to be?

[00:28:45]We built a house on the old family farm.

[00:28:50]And the only neighbors I can see from my house, really, is my sister who lives up on the hill behind me. She's always been looking down on me her whole life.

[00:28:57]That's where she's at.

[00:29:00]And just across the ridge, Grandma and Grandpa's house.

[00:29:04]We still tend to call it that.

[00:29:08]Where my cousin Ryan and his family live.

[00:29:12]And I got to tell you that when I when I came home, it was different than it was when I had left.

[00:29:28]Ryan has always been brilliant. He's got a better mind than I do, and certainly a better athlete, that we know.

[00:29:41]But by the time I had moved home, Ryan was out of church and away from the Lord.

[00:29:51]Hooked on every kind of drug imaginable.

[00:29:55]And he doesn't know all of this, but I would run by his house when I was home, take a little jog, and I would pray.

[00:30:05]I wish I could tell you I always prayed in faith.

[00:30:08]But there were lots of times I felt, "Man, he seems so far gone."

[00:30:17]His mother's with the Lord now.

[00:30:19]His mom and dad would stop me on the road and say, "Would you pray for Ryan?"

[00:30:24]We would pray.

[00:30:29]There was a night I was preaching in Ohio, and just before church my phone rang, and I looked down, and it was Angie, and she had never called me that I remember.

[00:30:39]And I stepped out and took the call, and she was weeping on the other side, and she said, "We need help."

[00:30:48]You come see us when you get home, and I did and sat in that kitchen where I'd gone hundreds, maybe thousands of times when grandma and grandpa were alive.

[00:30:56]And looked at two people that I love who didn't look like they looked tonight.

[00:31:03]Cuz their lives been ravaged by sin.

[00:31:12]And Ron said to me, "I want to be right with God."

[00:31:17]"I'm tired of this."

[00:31:21]And Ron, I got to be honest with you.

[00:31:23]When I left there after we prayed, I wish I could tell you then I was full of faith.

[00:31:28]But I got in my car, drove down their driveway, and thought, "He's got a long road ahead of him."

[00:31:38]God did something.

[00:31:42]I remember the night I was home from a meeting, and our church was having a gospel effort to go out in the community and witness, and Tammy and I went, and we're sitting in the room, and the side door opened, and Ron and Angie walked in.

[00:31:54]Watch this.

[00:31:55]To go visiting to other people to tell them about Jesus.

[00:32:01]And Ron said to me, "Can I go with you tonight?"

[00:32:04]I said, "Man, I'd love that."

[00:32:07]And I could take you to the street in Beckley that we were on, Oak and Elm Street, when he stopped, and he said, "I know all these people."

[00:32:17]And I said, "You know these people?" He said, "I know these people." I said, "How do you know these people?" He said, "Cuz they're all living like I was living."

[00:32:24]And he said, "That's why I'm out here."

[00:32:26]He said, "I want people to know that what he has done for me, he can do for them."

[00:32:32]Ron, I want you to come share the abbreviated version of your story. If you want to hear the full story, we'll tell you how you can listen to it.

[00:32:41]In a moment, we're going to have a prayer. I'm going to ask every person in this room in a moment to join me in one of two prayers.

[00:32:46]You're either the prodigal or you know one.

[00:32:50]You're either not where you need to be with God or you know somebody like that and in a moment, we're going to have a prayer and we're going to pray for prodigals tonight and see if God might do something out of the ordinary in their lives.

[00:33:01]Before we do, I'd like you to hear from my prodigal.

[00:33:04]He's not prodigal anymore. He's just one of God's children. Aren't you glad about that?

[00:33:08]Ryan, share your thoughts.

[00:33:12]I'd like to thank Brother Scott for giving me the opportunity to share with you guys a little bit of my testimony and what God has done in my life.

[00:33:19]A little background, I I grew up in a good Christian home. My dad was a pastor, my mom was the church pianist and I was saved at a very young age, 5 years old on the last night of Bible school.

[00:33:32]I I was asking my dad questions from the lessons I'd been hearing all week and asked the Lord into my heart.

[00:33:38]I started going to a Christian school in seventh grade and shortly after I rededicated my life to the Lord in a chapel service because where I was so young, I I wanted that concrete date to to reference back to.

[00:33:51]But unfortunately, not very long after that, I began to let my guard down and make compromise after compromise and at the time it seemed like small things like my friend choices, the music I was listening to, seemingly insignificant things. I was still going to church, I was active in the youth group and I I thought that these weren't really that harmful for me, but what it did is it it kind of made me curious about the things of the world and started to slowly pull me away from what I knew to be right and the behavior that I should be engaging in.

[00:34:33]Uh after uh after those first small ones, then I started moving on to more compromises like smoking cigarettes or uh experimenting with marijuana, things like that, while I was at Christian school, you know, so and and that that uh I continued along this path through the rest of my high school years.

[00:34:55]Uh still still faithfully in church, still still love the Lord, you know, I just was slowly sliding away.

[00:35:03]>> [snorts] >> And uh after high school, I began to actually sell marijuana for extra money.

[00:35:09]Uh I allowed greed to influence yet another compromise in my life that the more compromises you make, the easier it is to make bigger compromises.

[00:35:20]So, you get down the road a lot quicker than what you what you think you would.

[00:35:26]Uh these things kind of stayed the same in my life. I was I was using marijuana, selling marijuana. Uh I ended up marrying my my high school sweetheart, uh having our first son together, still in church faithfully every service there.

[00:35:42]One of my kids in church.

[00:35:44]And uh there came a point a couple years later where my money got a little bit tight, you know, and I was like, "Well, this one time I will I'm going to sell a few of these pills to make a few quick dollars." And uh the devil used that compromise to take yet more ground away from me. And before I knew it, I was using and selling opiates on a consistent basis.

[00:36:10]>> [snorts] >> Uh it was around this point that my family and friends and my parents started to realize, "Hey, something's not right here." You know, so uh my mom and dad were telling me very frequently that they're praying for me, you know, "I'm praying for you."

[00:36:24]I started to realize, "Hey, they probably kind of know something's going on. We would get together at family gatherings with my family and holidays and other times and I could see the concern on their face as they would ask me how I was doing and they they made a point to let me know that they were praying for me.

[00:36:43]And uh I was I was starting to starting to miss church now, you know, I wasn't in church every service. I was sending my boys to church with my parents because I still knew that's where they needed to be. I was starting to kind of see that I it was it was snowballing on me that uh I was having trouble getting out of there.

[00:37:02]Uh The next 10 years was a a steady slide from one compromise to another and it brought me to a place where I was a full-blown fentanyl addict with a $300 a day habit.

[00:37:15]I'd been reduced to a shell of myself. I was 130 lb. Uh I I was never in church.

[00:37:23]Uh I could see the look of disappointment coming on my oldest son's face where a look of adoration used to be.

[00:37:30]>> [snorts] >> And uh I was living with my parents helping take care of my mom. She had had a stroke and was in deteriorating health.

[00:37:40]And every morning and night I would hear my dad in his room praying and calling out to God for me.

[00:37:47]And it would break my heart but encourage me at the same time. I was still praying, calling out to God, but my pride made me believe that I I had to get this right, you know, I can fix this and I just went further and further down the road.

[00:38:03]>> [snorts] >> Uh family gatherings still all my family faithfully faithfully's letting me know, I'm I'm praying for you, Ryan. I'm I'm praying for you.

[00:38:12]And that was very comforting because at this point I felt so worthless. I felt like, why would God listen, let alone answer my prayers?

[00:38:21]So uh I I was trying everything to get myself out of the grasp of addiction.

[00:38:27]I tried medicines to help you get off of it. I tried stopping cold turkey on my own. I'd make it 4, 5, 6 days sometimes and then in a moment of weakness give it all away. So, I got to the point that I couldn't even hardly look at myself in the mirror. I couldn't stand the sight of myself. So, then February 2nd, 2022, my mom passed away from COVID.

[00:38:55]She'd always been kind of the rock in our family and I was uh I was kind of like the final straw for me.

[00:39:02]The next month was was somewhat of a blur. I was heavily using drugs trying to numb away the pain, the hopelessness that I was feeling.

[00:39:12]And I don't remember a lot from that month, but the one thing I do remember is my wife had got her Bible out and she had started reading it multiple times a day for significant amounts of time.

[00:39:24]And I was not working. I was in no shape to to hold a job. She was still going to work and one day she was gone to work.

[00:39:32]And I got up out of bed and I saw her Bible sitting on the coffee table.

[00:39:36]And the Lord started speaking to me. I opened it up and broke my heart, you know, and I I was at a broken point at this time and >> [snorts] >> all that pride that I'd held onto for all these years was gone. You know, I I thought very little of myself and I ended up on my face in the living room crying out to God in a way that I'd never had before.

[00:40:01]And I don't know what I said. I don't remember what I prayed, but I knew when I stood up that I had a peace that I'd given it all to him.

[00:40:11]For the next 18 days I went through withdrawal, sleepless nights, but I had a different mindset. I consumed myself with prayer, reading my Bible, watching any sermon from a good past preacher that I could on YouTube or wherever it was. I just I just consumed myself with it.

[00:40:33]Uh God gave me the strength through those 18 days to accomplish every day what I would try for years and was unable to do on my own strength.

[00:40:45]>> [snorts] >> Uh March 13th, uh 2022 was my first day of sobriety.

[00:40:52]And uh not Now, not even 4 years later, uh the Lord has restored more than I could I could even begin to tell you.

[00:41:02]My wife and I have been blessed with the opportunity to be bus captains at our local church. Something that I feel like all those years of pain and struggle that the Lord used that to equip me to be able to connect and reach some of these families that otherwise I maybe not would have been able to.

[00:41:20]>> [snorts] >> I can I can empathize with them and I can easily see how how you can get in these situations.

[00:41:29]Uh God God really has a way of turning our bad into his good if we give him the opportunity to.

[00:41:36]Uh On the positive note, my youngest son is now attending Christian school at Victory Baptist Academy. My oldest just finished his first semester at Pensacola Christian school.

[00:41:46]And [snorts] uh God is good. He deserves all the praise and glory. There's nothing good in me. I proved that over and over again.

[00:41:55]>> [snorts] >> Uh He's restored so many broken relationships that are so special to me and gave me many precious new ones through our local church.

[00:42:05]And we love our local church and we're so thankful that God has placed us there to be able to serve him.

[00:42:11]So, if you're here tonight and you have a loved one in a situation like me, keep praying.

[00:42:17]Not just pray, but let them know you're praying. It's It's more encouraging than what you could ever imagine to hear people you know that are right with the Lord praying for you. That's That's so encouraging.

[00:42:31]And if you're here tonight and you're stuck yourself in a situation like I was in, humble yourself and lean on God's promises. He He will give you the strength to overcome whatever you're facing. But, we can't do it in our own strength. We have to lean on him.

[00:42:51]Stay here with me just Stay here with me just a second.

[00:42:56]I wish I wish I could drive you by Ron and Angie's house.

[00:43:02]It looks better than it did when my grandfather had it, and that's saying something.

[00:43:07]Everything in their life has radically changed.

[00:43:13]He doesn't know this.

[00:43:15]He's helping a lot of boys and girls.

[00:43:17]I'm glad he helped my son.

[00:43:25]Few years ago, I wouldn't wanted to Grant to hang around you.

[00:43:31]For the last few years, God used him to encourage my boy.

[00:43:38]Only God can do that.

[00:43:41]But, he can.

[00:43:43]And he will if you let him.

[00:43:47]And some of you, you're in such despair.

[00:43:50]Suicide is up. We're the most drug depressed generation in the history of the world.

[00:43:56]And some of you think you've gone too far. Your loved one's gone too far. I came to tell you tonight, there is hope in Jesus Christ.

[00:44:07]>> Yes. Yes.